Walking through the Laguardia Airport in New York City, I saw an advertisement that made me stop dead in my tracks. I decided to take a picture of the advertisement to share with you.
As a youth minister, I have interest in this picture and have a strong reaction. What about you? As a parent, as a Christian, as a peer, as a high school student, as a member of society, what does this advertisement stir inside of you?
What is your reaction to this advertisement?
Here is Heather and I if we were together in the early to mid 90s:
Absolutely disgusting.
Jesus on a moth. Read the article and see the video on this ridiculous story.
Best places to visit while in New York City (in no particular order…)
If you want to know about these places, google them. I did not have time to put a link for all these places.
Ok, what did I miss on this list? This is a huge, beautiful city with more stuff to see and do than we could possibly imagine. Let’s put our collective minds together to build the ultimate “to-do list” while in New York City.
I am currently sitting at gate 16 in terminal A at the DFW airport. I am about to get on a plane that is destined for New York City. All I know is that I will eating lunch in Manhatten (possibly lounging around Bryant Park).
I am meeting a good friend, Sean Reneau, in NYC to watch two New York Yankee baseball games. This is the last year that the Yankees are playing in historic Yankee Stadium. On top of that, the Yankees are playing the Boston Red Sox (the Yankees’ biggest rival). In fact, I will be watching the final two Boston/New York games at Yankee Stadium. I am beyond excited. As a sports fan, a baseball fan, and a Yankees fan, it does not get better than this.
Watch for me on ESPN tonight. I will be the guy with the huge, boyish, goofy grin plastered all over his face.
Pictures will come soon.
(Luke, you should be with me the next couple of days.)
The other day I was having an amazing conversation with a very dear friend. Our casual conversation turned into a deep conversation as we began talking about the most important thing in my life – my faith and relationship with God. It is important for you to know that this very dear friend is not a believer (yet!) and has never accepted Jesus. In a span of a few minutes, this friend asked me a series of some of the deepest questions I have ever been asked. I thought I would share these questions with you to see how you would answer these questions. Here are the questions…
WHERE IS GOD?
CAN GOD BE SEEN BY ANYBODY? (EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER.)
YOU SAY THAT YOU ARE LED BY GOD, BUT HOW CAN HE LEAD YOUR LIFE?
HOW HAS GOD CHANGED YOUR LIFE?
Yep, we just dove straight into the deep end. No dipping your foot to see if the water was warm. No slowly walking into the shallow end. Just a straight dive into the deep end.
I believe it is healthy to think about how we would answer questions like these as followers of Christ. Try not to get too turned off by the depth of thought they require.
How would you answer my very dear friend if you were asked these questions?
Thanks to Stephen Moore, a fellow youth pastor in Tennessee, for putting this amazing website on his blog. I saw this on his website and had to try this for myself.
The website is www.yearbookyourself.com. This website is a great way to waste some time and have a lot of fun and laughs doing it. What you do is simple. At this website, you upload a picture of yourself and then you see what your yearbook pictures would have looked like from 1950-2000. One of the funniest things I have seen in a while. I picked out my 12 best to share with you.
1952 1960
1978 1984
1988 1990
1994 1996
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Which picture do you like the best?
Here is something something you do not see everyday:
On April 28, 2008, a baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox was suspended because of rain. Yesterday (August 25, 2008) the two teams finished the game with the Orioles defeating the White Sox 4-3 after 14 innings. Even though the game was completed on August 25, all the record books and stats will count for April 28.
Because of that the record books will say that…
Luis Montanez, a rookie outfielder for the Orioles, got the game-winning hit three months before his Major League Baseball debut.
Montanez got the hit off White Sox pitcher Horacio Ramirez. Both players were in the minor leagues when the game began in April.
Ken Griffey Jr, who was traded to the White Sox in late July, plays in a game with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox on the same day.
That is one of the reasons why I love baseball so much. You never know when you are going to see something that has never happened before. I love it!
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You got any news of the wierd?
Oh, the first day of school! The memories come flooding back to me as I sit in my office thinking about what so many students and teachers are going through today (today is the first day of school in Sulphur Springs). This old man still remembers the anxiousness, nervousness, and excitement that came along with the first day of school.
I know from all the people who read this blog, we must have some amazing first day of school stories. For some of you, you might have to dive pretty deep into the ole’ memory bank, but I believe those stories are there. So…
Do you have any good first day of school stories? Do you have any funny first day of school stories? Do you have any embarrassing first day of school stories? Please share.
On May 27, 2008, Jay Bruce made his Major League Baseball debut for the Cincinnati Reds. The highly anticipated debut of the center fielder was one of the best starts to a big league career in history. Bruce ended his night with a perfect 3 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, 2 runs batted in, and a stolen base. Talk about a debut.
The Disciples had a pretty amazing debut themselves in Acts 2.
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the story, God’s Word says that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and then Peter stepped up to the plate and hit a homerun of a sermon that resulted in more than 3,000 coming to accept Jesus as Savior that day. What a debut, especially considering the expectation that was given to them by Jesus. He set the bar pretty high for those guys. Remember the words of Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV):
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
That was their mission. That was their goal. That was what was laid on their shoulders. What a God-sized mission!
After looking at their mission, I asked myself two questions:
How did God prepare them to do something huge for Him? When thinking about this question, God revealed something to me: the disciples were on spiritual cloud nine. Think about what happened in their lives in the past three years: they followed Jesus around for three years, they witnessed miracles, one walked on water, they were there when Jesus was arrested, they saw Jesus crucified, they saw Him die, they saw the empty tomb, they hung out with the risen Jesus, they saw Jesus ascend into heaven before their eyes, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Talk about a spiritual high! God had prepared them and equipped them to do something huge for Him.
Now the other question…
Where did they start? You know after they saw Jesus ascend into heaven, they all looked at each other scratching their heads, all thinking “now what?” How overwhelming that feeling and pressure must have felt in that moment. I can imagine John thinking, “Jesus told us to change the world, but how? Where do we start?”
If you look back at Acts 2 (their start), you will see that God brought the people to them. I guarantee you Peter looked over that huge crowd, felt butterflies in his stomach, nervously cleared his throat, and boldly opened his mouth and out spilled the Gospel and message that changed the world. God let them start changing the world right where they were, one person at a time.
I believe God has called all his children to be world-changers. Looking at your life, how has God been preparing you to change this world? All the spiritual highs and incredible God-moments where given to you to share with others. How are you doing with that?
Finally, I understand that the mission to change the world can be intimidating. Take comfort that God (like with the disciples) will open doors and bring people into your life to start accomplishing that mission. You have to start where you are first, one person at a time.
I like to write out and set my world-changing mission like this:
Any of that hit home today? This was pretty fresh on my heart if you could not tell. Hope this helps you in your journey.
